In the intense and action packed last two days of the EU LCS 2018 Spring Promotion Tournament, the old LCS savants FC Schalke 04 and Giants Gaming managed to decisively punch through Mysterious Monkeys and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The two veteran teams of the LoL EU competitive scene have dominated throughout the 2017 EU CS season, and now they’ve rightfully earned their spot among the best of the best once again.

In case you’ve missed the EU LCS vs. EU CS matches in the first 2 days, read this first.

EU LCS 2018 Spring Promotion Tournament, Day 3

Schalke 04 vs. Giants – 2:3

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The battle of the Challengers went the distance. Both teams displayed a high-level of professional competitive play.

The opening game was slow start with little kills. Schalke 04 successfully burned through Giants’ towers and map objectives like a hot knife through stale butter. The final snowball took off in the final 5 minutes. Easy 1-0 for Schalke.

Second game was locked in a stalemate for 20 or so minutes. Giants were in control for the most part, but the final kill score was still fairly low with 8-6 kills in favour of Giants. 1-1.

Third game is where things started wildly swinging back and forth. Giants plunged into a landslide win for a quick 27-minute win and 16 to 3 kills. Jazuke and Minitroupax stole the show with elegant Galio and Xayah plays, finishing 7/1/7 and 6/0/4 respectively. 2-1 for Giants

Game 4 was an immediate 180. Schalke’s Caedral and Memento took charge on LeBlanc and Jarvan IV, with Norskeren doing awesome support work on Tahm Kench. They convincingly wiped the floor with Giants in that one.

The decisive fifth game was a classic meat-grinder. Giants got the better of Schalke in the pick and ban phase. Minitroupax’s Xayah went beastmode, triple killing her way into a 8 kills killing spree for the series sealing third win.

The victory qualified Giants for an immediate EU LCS spot next season, while Schalke were slated to battle the winner of Mysterious Monkeys and Ninjas in Pyjamas the following day.

Mysterious Monkeys vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas – 0:3

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The improved and ready Ninjas stomped over Monkeys contrary to everyone’s expectations. All 5 Ninjas had their moments during the games, outclassing their opponents both individually and collectively.

First two games were slaughterhouse simulators, with a total of 27 to 9 kills in favour of Ninjas.

In the third game though, Monkeys seemed to have shown signs of waking up between 15 and 20 minutes.

Unfortunately for them, Ninjas seemed more than prepared for such a scenario, going on a ludicrous streak of timely tower kills and objective-plays. The tempo swing was so immense that Monkeys barely scrapped 4 kills in the last 15 minutes.

The sweeping fashion of Ninjas victory looked like a promising sign for their upcoming matchup with Schalke the next day.

EU LCS 2018 Spring Promotion Tournament, Day 4

Schalke 04 vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas – 3:0

Unfortunately, the expectations of a close series couldn’t have been further from the truth.

FC Schalke 04 absolutely crushed Ninjas spirits right in the first game. It took them a while, and Ninjas certainly had their highlight-reel period in the midgame, but Schalke completely demoralized Ninjas in the last 7-8 minutes of the match.

Second game was the beginning of the downward spiral for Ninjas. They opened up rather decently, but Schalke 04 persevered successfully. The Baron kill was the snowball initiator.

Schalke shifted into the fifth gear right away, and Ninjas failed to react accordingly. Losing on all fronts, they had no other choice but hope for a reverse sweep.

Sadly, the hopes of that appeared slim right from the beginning. Demoralized, outpaced and outplayed, Ninjas had to accept their fate and concede into the relegation.

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EU LCS 2018 Spring Promotion Tournament Conclusion

Considering NiP and MM got visibly outclassed by the two newest EU LCS arrivals, the shuffle at the bottom is a welcome change. If Shalke and Giants manage to maintain and improve their current form, EU LCS mid-tier bottom feeders won’t have a free rein any more.

This will surely increase the overall quality and appeal of the league, as there will be a lot less mismatches throughout the season. The average EU LCS viewer and fan will certainly have more exciting games to watch.

Who knows, we might even have an underrated new contender for the throne next season?!